2013 Houston TX Article - 40 Years of Firsts

Global Living
issue 6 | April/may 2013
Living Luxuriously, Worldwide
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Oslo, Norway
The Happiest City in the
World's Richest Country
Driving abroad
An Expat's Guide to Learning
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altruistic expats: Part II
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Las Cruces & Mesilla
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Chile Peppers, Sand Dunes
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Beautiful Bali
An Exploration of the
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Global Living Magazine
1
Travel + Culture
Art
By Apple Gidley
Houston, Texas is a city imbued with a thriving cultural scene
offering performance arts from well-patronized and worldclass ballet, opera and theater companies to a symphony
orchestra and every other kind of music, as well as many
museums and art galleries that make the Bayou City proud.
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Global Living Magazine
pho t o grap h by E ar lie H ud nall J r., C our tes y o f U nivers it y Mus eu m
Houston, Texas: Dance Theatre of Harlem Exhibition
Firebird
O
images by A pple G id le y
ne such venue, the University
the field in art education and became
Museum at Texas Southern
known as Arts Exposure, giving vent to
University, a gem tucked deep
Mitchell’s desire to honor Dr. King, and
in the heart of the Third Ward,
to Shook’s hopes for a position offering
is currently garnering buzz
‘social significance’. Virginia Johnson,
with the Dance Theatre of Harlem: 40 Years of
a former DTH principal dancer and
Firsts touring exhibition. Dr Alvia Wardlaw,
now artistic director of the re-formed
director of the University Museum said,
company, said of that first session, “Mr
“UMuse is the exhibition’s only venue in
Mitchell conducted the first lecture
Texas. This spectacular exhibition is filled
demonstrations in tights and the kids
with a cultural history of which many are not
laughed so much when he came onstage,
aware. It will inspire our students and may
that for the next performance he had on
introduce them to an art form not previously
slacks. I have not seen him in tights for a
experienced.”
lecture demonstration since.”
The recent opening brought Houstonians
The Dance Theatre of Harlem, the
into the raspberry-colored space to view
first black ballet company in the United
backdrop scenes from some of the
States, first performed in 1971
DTH signature ballets. Photographs, The diversity of dance and a willingness to with just four principals, with
posters and memorabilia tell the take risks inspired Mitchell to broaden the Mitchell choreographing all
company’s history from 1969 when appeal of Firebird, originally produced in the pieces for the fledgling
Arthur Mitchell started his dance
– the first being Ode
1910 by Diaghelev for the Ballet Russe. company
school in a Harlem basement, to the
to Otis, with a nod to the music
much-anticipated return to the New York stage in April 2013
of R&B artist Otis Redding. “Many of our performances in
of a streamlined Dance Theatre of Harlem.
those early months were with the four of us in every possible
Mitchell, after learning tap at the Police Athletic Academy,
variation of pas de deux, pas de quatre and solos,” remembered
was encouraged to audition for the High School of Performing
Walter Raines.
Arts. After winning a scholarship to the Katherine Dunham
The different tableaux of this alluring exhibition have
School of Dance, he studied dance technique under Karel
monitors showcasing the fluidity, beauty and athleticism of
Shook. In 1955, at the invitation of George Balanchine,
both the choreography and dancers. Costumes from Creole
Mitchell became the first black dancer with the New York
Giselle, the first full-length ballet broadcast on NBC in 1984
City Ballet – a daring and historic decision in pre-civil rights
and which earned the Sir Laurence Olivier Theatre Award,
America. Rising quickly through the ranks to become a premier
is transplanted from mid-19th-century France to a free black
danseur, Mitchell electrified audiences throughout his 15
plantation in Pre-Civil War Louisiana.
years with NYCB. Following the death of Dr. Martin Luther
Athleticism was the lure used by Mitchell in the early days
King, Jr. in April 1968, Balanchine created Requiem Canticles
of the DTH when attempting to get youths off the basketball
in tribute to the slain civil rights leader and cast Mitchell in
courts and into the dance studio in which he had sunk his
the role of ‘the King’.
savings. “I can teach you to jump higher. The lower you can
Shortly after, Mitchell, with his former mentor Karel
bend, the higher you can jump. It’s called a demi-plie,” he
Shook, opened a church’s basement doors to students, taking
cajoled them.
ballet to the community in which he grew up. Their lectureBreaking tradition once again, Mitchell decided that his
demonstrations in libraries, church halls and schools led
ballerinas should match their skin tone to their tights and shoes
Flying Tutus
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rather than wear the customary pink. The decision, which
for each dancer involves a unique formula of dye, shoe spray
and experimentation, is described by Judy Tyrus, a former
principal dancer and curator of the current exhibition: “I don’t
think audiences understand the time it takes to achieve this.
Now dancers all over the world use flesh-toned tights and
shoes. DTH is where it started.”
Legendary dance teachers from around the world were
brought to DTH through Mitchell’s Masters and Mentors
program. The diversity of dance and a willingness to take risks
inspired Mitchell to broaden the appeal of Firebird, originally
produced in 1910 by Diaghelev for the Ballet Russe. Based
on Russian folklore, Geoffrey Holder transposed the set and
costumes to a mythical tropical island, perhaps loosely based
on his home of Trinidad and Tobago.
A BBC documentary celebrating Arthur Mitchell’s
extraordinary achievements, both as dancer and creator of
Dance Theatre of Harlem, quietly runs at the back of the
exhibition. Only his words can express the depth of his
dedication: “I am maniacal. I demand perfection. From myself
as well… I have no biological children; the dancers are my
children and I am very proud of them.” Three years ago
Mitchell hung up his dancing shoes, entrusting the company
to Virginia Johnson, who as artistic director is poised to bring
the DTH Company back to the international arena, reigniting
the passion of young African-American dancers to the joy of
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Global Living Magazine
ballet. It befits the hallmark of DTH and their mantra: “Our
eclecticism is our strength”.
Mitchell’s dream and dedication is apparent throughout the
exhibition, as is his ability to inspire his dancers after their
stage careers have ended – to remain conduits of hope and
inspiration for the next generation. Judy Tyrus says, “I hope
Dance Theatre of Harlem: 40 Years of Firsts motivates young
people to realize their own dreams.”
Founder of the art department at Texas Southern and
renowned artist Dr. John T. Biggers would be proud of the
current exhibition at the University Museum for which he
so staunchly lobbied. His appreciation of all art forms was
palpable, as seen in his seminal mural, Birth from the Sea.
Biggers used Marge Stewart, dancer and professor of creative
dance at TSU in 1964, as the model for the central figure of
the mural. John Biggers and Arthur Mitchell both strived for
perfection in their art. The permanent feature in the museum,
Biggers’ Web of Life mural, as well as the current exhibition
proves both men found that perfection.
Dance Theatre of Harlem: 40 Years of Firsts may be coming to
a city near you (the next stop is the August Wilson Cultural
Center in Pittsburgh), so be sure to see it for yourself. Of course
you could view it at the University Museum in Houston, but
please, don’t tell anyone about the cultural haven known as
the Bayou City. It’s our secret.
Pho t o grap h by A pple G id le y; ar t wor k by J ohn B iggers
Detail from Birth from the Sea
(John Biggers).